


More Than Meets The Eye

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Bad Things Happen - Dick Grayson [13]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Acrobat Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson Knows, Family Bonding, Guns, Kidnapping, Protective Bruce Wayne, Worried Alfred Pennyworth, Young Dick Grayson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:07:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: HOSTAGE VIDEODick is kidnapped and the men holding him demand that Bruce makes Batman quit. If he fails to comply, they will start hurting the young boy.





	More Than Meets The Eye

Bruce had to say that he was starting to get nervous. 

“Master Bruce, I’m sure this is nothing serious. Maybe he just got held up talking with miss Barbara.” 

Bruce shook his head. 

“It can’t be it, Alfred. He always calls if he will be late. And Gordon calls me if Dick goes over to Barbara.” 

Then he stood up and walked over to the telephone. He punched in the right number and had to wait just a few signals, before a man’s voice answered. 

“Commissioner Gordon.” 

“Gordon. This is Bruce. I’m wondering if Dick is with Barbara.” 

“No. Babs came home an hour ago. Alone. Is Dick missing?”

Bruce sighed. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious. He must’ve gone to the library and forgotten to call me.” 

And he hung up. 

“He’s not there. Alfred I…” 

He was cut off by the telephone ringing. 

“Bruce Wayne.” 

“Listen very closely, Mr. Wayne. There is a video tape in your mailbox. Go and get it, play it and wait. We will call you again. Every telephone in your house is tapped and we are surveilling all the exits. Don’t contact the police, or your son will suffer.” 

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, but he forced himself to stay calm. 

“Don’t hurt him. I’ll do what you say. But I want to talk to him first. I need to know he’s alright.” 

“Get the video, Mr Wayne.” 

And they hung up. Bruce had to force himself to not throw the phone. 

“Master Bruce?” 

Alfred’s worried voice pushed him into action. He almost ran out of the house and to the mailbox. Very real, there was a video tape there. He got it back inside and quickly played it on the television in the living room. The screen was black for a few seconds, before springing to life. Alfred gasped in horror when he saw Dick. He was bound to a chair with his hands behind his back. He was looking at the screen with slight worry, but seemed to be unhurt. A man appeared behind him and put a gun to his head. The boy didn’t even flinch. 

“Mr. Wayne. We aren’t your typical kidnappers. We don’t want money or other riches which I’m sure you would provide in a second to keep your son safe. We do not want to hurt the child, and if you follow our instructions, nothing will happen to him and you will have him back in one piece.” 

He paused for a moment, glancing down at the calm boy. A smile appeared on his face and he pulled the gun away a bit. 

“What we want, is for Batman to disappear. You have influence in the city, Mr. Wayne. Make sure the Bat is gone, and you will get your son back. I don’t care how you do it. As a proof, we want his cowl and cape, torn up. We’ll contact you in four days and tell you where to leave them. If you don’t follow our orders or get police involved, we will be forced to hurt the boy.” 

The screen went black again and Bruce sat down in silence. Alfred went a bit closer to him and tilted his head. 

“Master Bruce?” 

There was worry in his voice and Bruce looked up again. 

“I’m going to get him back.” 

The butler frowned. 

“We don’t even know where he is, Master Bruce.” 

The younger man looked at him with a sudden smirk on his face. 

“I know where they are. Dick told me.” 

Alfred looked at him as if he had gotten mad. Moving quickly, Bruce rewound the tape to the moment where the man pulled the gun away from Dick’s head. The boy looked up at the camera and then shifted slightly in the chair. To any outsider, it would look as if he was just trying to find a more comfortable position. But Bruce had noticed something else. There was a sign on the back of the chair, and it became visible for a few seconds while Dick was shifting. Bruce paused the video. 

“There. The old hospital.” 

He quickly stood up and rushed over to the study, moving the clock and running downstairs. He pulled on the suit in a few minutes, thinking shortly that this was most probably his quickest suit up. He drove out in the batmobile, driving as fast as he could. He cared about the boy. In the beginning, he had just decided to adopt him because their stories were so similar. He had been set on not getting too close to him. And, for the first few weeks, he had managed to do just that. He stayed in the cave or in his study, keeping away from the parts of the house where Dick usually was. But, after those few weeks, the boy had started to be literally everywhere and it was harder and harder to stay away from him. It started with watching a movie together. Then came the reading sessions. Dick knew a few phrases in many languages, having learned them during the circus’ travelling. But he couldn’t speak clean english, and he had trouble reading. Knowing that it would make it harder for him in school, Bruce had taken it upon himself to teach the boy everything he would need to know. This way, they started spending more and more time together. And Bruce had started to see Dick as his own child. He came to a stop outside the old hospital and quickly made his way inside. The men were most probably holding Dick downstairs in the basement. He went down the stairs, making sure to not make a sound. One of the rooms in the basement was lit up and he creeped over to the doorway. Dick was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Six men were standing in a group, seemingly lost in a conversation. He burst into the room and attacked while the men were still surprised. Two of them were kicked down quickly, one went down with a nasty head wound. And then everything seemed to freeze for the Bat. He saw one of the men lift an automatic rifle up and start shooting towards the middle of the room. Bruce turned there with fear, only to get shocked. Dick wasn’t there anymore. The chair was empty. The kidnapper, as shocked as the Bat had been, lowered his gun and then gave a short cry of surprise when Dick dropped down onto his shoulders from the pipes he had been hanging on. He put his legs around the man’s neck and squeezed, before letting himself fall backwards, pulling the man off balance. Bruce was next to them in a second, knocking the man out, while Dick simply rolled to the side to avoid the falling body. Two batarangs took out the remaining men and then Bruce turned to Dick, only to get pushed back when the boy threw himself into his arms. 

“I knew you would come.” 

Bruce pushed him away a bit, checking for any injuries. Thankfully, he didn’t see any. 

“How did you do that?” 

The boy smiled. 

“I was raised in a circus. I know how to escape ropes and handcuffs. Chains are a bit more tricky. Those pipes looked strong enough to hold me. And Joey, the security guard at Haly’s, taught me how to take down people bigger than me.” 

Then he hugged Bruce again. The man pulled his cape around the boy and lifted him up. Dick snuggled into him and whispered quietly: 

“Thank you, Bruce.” 

The man, who had gotten them out of the basement and was now walking up the stairs, stopped in shock.

“What?” 

Dick looked up at him, a smile on his face. 

“I grew up in a circus where people wear masks, make-up and costumes almost all the time. A cowl and voice changer aren’t working on me.” 

Bruce shook his head, a fond smile appearing on his face. He carried the boy out of the hospital and put him into the batmobile. The drive back to the mansion was silent, except for Dick’s quiet humming. Bruce parked in the back yard of the mansion and, when Dick stretched his arms out to him, picked him up. Alfred was already standing in the open door, a look of relief on his face. Bruce walked inside, letting Dick pull the cowl back as soon as the door closed behind them. Alfred looked at them with slight surprise, before seemingly accepting the new development. Without a word, Bruce carried Dick up to his room and dumped him on the bed, the boy giggling when he bounced a few times upon impact. 

“I’ll go change out of the suit and then we can talk.”

He was halfway to the door when he realized something. Dick had seem Batman before. A few times on the news and in the papers. Yet he had never said anything. He turned back to the boy. 

“You didn’t recognize me until today.” 

Dick hesitated, before putting on an innocent expression. 

“I might have tried to smell your cologne yesterday. And I accidentally made the bottle fall into the sink so that everything poured out. And I didn’t want you to realize that, so I squeezed a few lemons and put the lemon juice in the bottle. You’ve been smelling like lemons the entire day.” 

Bruce just stared at him, before doing something he hadn’t done since he was a child. He burst out laughing. A genuine, honest laugh. Alfred, who had been standing in the doorway, just smiled. This little boy was the best thing that could ever happen to Bruce Wayne. It was just sad that it had happened because of such tragic circumstances. Bruce calmed down after a few seconds and looked at Dick with a smile. The boy grinned back at him. 

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” 

He got a nod back and walked out of the room, Alfred following him quickly. 

“How did it go, Master Bruce?” 

The younger man looked at him, the smile still on his face. 

“Everything went well. Call Gordon and tell him where he can find those men. And Alfred. Tonight we’ll have to acrobat proof the cave. I have a feeling it will be hard to keep him out of there.” 

Alfred nodded, another smile almost appearing on his face. 

“Of course, Master Bruce. And what about the lemon juice in your cologne?” 

Bruce seemed to think about it, before his smile turned into an evil grin. 

“I’ll see if Clark could swing by in his suit. I heard that Dick is a Superman fan. I’d love to see his face when he meets him.” 

Then he suddenly raised his voice a bit. 

“AND, if he doesn’t stop eavesdropping I won’t ask Wonder Woman to come here for lunch next week.” 

A yelp and crash from the stairs told them that the message was received. They both smiled as they heard Dick’s footsteps hurry upstairs again.


End file.
